Marybeth Norton has previously been the president/Chair of a nonprofit in Multnomah County for three years, the Portland Area Service Committee of Narcotics Anonymous, also known as Portland Narcotics Anonymous in a volunteer position or function to insure the smooth running of that 501C3. She still is heavily involved with service to that corporation. She owns and operates her own organizing business in Clackamas County since 2010, known as Organize That! Inc. She also was a stockbroker on the east coast as well, with previous banking experience prior to that, and was an office manager in that field for many years. As a result, she has administrative and managerial skills as demonstrated by her experience. Marybeth raised two children as a single mother and struggled to provide them housing on the pay of a bank teller; even though she was offered promotions, they never even came close to covering the cost of childcare and she had to count on family help to assist her in raising her children. The effect was devastating to her family. She also had addiction issues as well as mental health struggles and had no support for those issues at the time. She presently has 8 years clean as an addict. Previously, she found herself in mental health housing as a result of her addiction in 2002 and spent 9 years in that supportive housing, recovering from chronic and recurring depression. She attends meetings of Narcotics Anonymous on a regular basis and shares her story of recovery. She feels an attitude of non-judgment for mental health-related issues is of prime importance in the treatment of homelessness, as that is one factor that is a cause of homelessness in the World, and feels extremely grateful to be in independent housing today herself, having maintained that for 15 years in the same residence. As an addict, it is her philosophy and that of Narcotics Anonymous, that the members of that organization owe a debt to society and that the debt is paid back by doing service work for the rest of our lives for the harm we have caused and the resources we have drained from society. In that vein, Marybeth believes her work in the future will always be to pay back that debt to society and to her community. Her story is testament to the fact that “WE DO RECOVER”.